Top 7 Savings Bank Account Options for Your Child

As soon as we start earning, the first thing we ideally do is to open a savings bank account for ourselves to keep all our hard-earned money safe. While this applies to those who are earning, savings for kids is usually done by parents.

Parents who save for their kids often want to open savings account for their children and keep a certain amount of money away from their regular expenses. Financial experts say it is never late to start saving and opening bank accounts for children to help them learn about the importance of savings. Parents even help their kids learn and understand about money management in the early years, which helps the child to manage money wisely in future. The best way to help them learn is by introducing them to a minor savings account.

Kids Savings Account will help the child to understand with time how one saves money and how it grows with less risk involved. Having a savings bank account for your child provides you a benefit of saving your money securely, while earning interest on that too.

There are various banks that offer savings account for kids with great benefits. Let us check some of the best savings accounts for children offered by banks.

Note: Interest rates as on 2^nd May 2022. These rates may change without prior information.

Indus Young Saver Savings Account

IndusInd Bank understands your needs as a parent and comes with Indus Young Saver Savings Account to help your child manage and save their money under your guidance. The eligibility criteria for this account includes: A minor can open Indus Young Saver Savings Account on the child’s name if he is above 12 years of age. If not, the account should be opened as an “Under Guardian” Account, where the guardian will be in operation of the account. The Young Saver Savings Account is required to maintain an average monthly balance of Rs. 5,000. A minor is also entitled to monthly balance waiver if his account is linked with a parent privilege account or Recurring Deposit of Rs. 2,500 per month.

Features & Benefits

• IndusInd Young Saver Savings Account offers a unique Gold Debit Card, which will be issued in the name of child if he is above the age of 12
• You can even add a personal touch to your child’s debit card by customizing it with a fun image
• You will also be provided with a cheque book with your child’s name on it, to guide your child on handling and saving money wisely

Axis Bank Future Stars Savings Account

Finance is now an integral part of our life. We must ensure that we provide our children all the knowledge related to finance. Axis Bank’s Future Stars Savings Account helps you teach your children how imperative savings are and provides them a push in building a strong financial foundation.

Features & Benefits

• You will get a visa Platinum Debit Card at a nominal fee
• If the child is over 10 years of age, you can get the image of your child printed on the card, the image can be of your choice
• Includes a personal accident insurance cover of Rs. 2 Lakh for your child

HDFC Kid’s Advantage Account

Kid’s Advantage Account can be opened as long as your child is a minor (up to 18 years of age) and you have a savings account with HDFC Bank. It is mandatory for you to have a savings account with HDFC in order to open a savings account for your child. Children who are above 10 years of age are eligible to open self-operated minor account and an ATM/Debit card can be issued to them. The account offers great offers and insurance.

Features & Benefits

• Get a free education insurance cover of Rs. 1,00,000 in the event of death of the parent/guardian through vehicular accident by road, rail or air
• You can transfer any amount from your account to your kid’s account every month (Minimum value Rs.1,000 & Minimum tenure 1 year is mandatory)
• When the balance in the Kid’s Advantage Account reaches/exceeds 35,000, the amount in excess of Rs.25,000 will automatically be transferred to a Fixed Deposit for 1 year and 1 day in your child’s name if you sign-up for the bank’s “MoneyMaximizer” (sweep-out) facility
• My Passion Fund gives the child flexibility to deposit money whenever it is available to make small savings starting from Rs. 1,000
• You can set up transfers using Standing Instructions

ICICI Bank – Young Stars & Smart Star Account

Young Stars Account

ICICI Bank Young Stars Account can be opened for minors to operate the account according to your child’s need, right from a young age.

Features & Benefits

• ICICI Young Stars Account offers free Young Stars Debit Card, which will help your child to make direct purchases through a POS (Point of Sale) machine and also withdraw cash using ATMs
• You can choose Young Stars Account with withdrawal limits Rs. 2,500 / Rs. 5,000 for shopping and cash withdrawal each day
• It also comes with facilities like money multiplier facility and standing instructions facility, which helps to debit money from parents account to the youngsters account

Smart Star Account

Any minor above the age of 10 can open and operate ICICI Smart Star Account all by themselves. This will help them to make a habit of savings and a responsibility to spend wisely.

Smart Star Account comes in two variants:

Smart Star Savings Account with Guardian Consent – has a debit transaction limit of Rs. 2 Lakh in a financial year

Smart Star Savings Account without Guardian Consent – has a debit transaction limit of Rs. 50,000 in a financial year

Features & Benefits

• ICICI Smart Star Account offers free Personalised Debit Card with the spending and withdrawal limit of Rs. 5,000
• It also provides a personalised cheque book, which can be issued by the child
• ICICI Smart Star Account also comes with features like free internet banking access, free mobile banking access, free email statement and prepaid mobile recharge facility

IDBI Bank- Power Kids Account

IDBI realised that parents nowadays start saving money for their children right from the day they are born. To cater this specific need, IDBI Bank launched IDBI Power Kids Account.

Features & Benefits

• The minimum balance requirement for the Power Kids account, which has to be maintained, is Rs. 500
• There is no charge for not keeping the Average Quarterly Balance
• IDBI Bank also provides cheque book, pass book, exclusive designed Kids ATM Card for free with this account and allows withdrawal limit up to Rs. 2,000 per month only
• The kid can use the ATM card to make free first five transactions at other Bank ATMs at non metro locations
• If the minor is above 10 years of age, he/she can operate the account on their own

Kotak Mahindra My Junior Account

The Kotak Mahindra Junior Bank Account provides 3.50% interest per annum and is primarily designed to make your child understand the benefits of saving. Kotak offers a bundled offering, which helps your child learn to save. The bundled offering includes the Junior Savings Account Nova Variant (NMC waived off) and Guardian Savings Account. Also, Kotak Junior Account helps in an investment in a recurring deposit or Systematic Investment Plan with as low as Rs. 2,000 per month (Rs. 1,000 or above in Semi Urban and Rural Branches) with minimum tenure of 36 months. Recurring Deposit allows you to make investment in a long-term deposit every month and help your child learn to save.

Besides the bundled offering, Kotak also provides standalone Junior Account, which is available in six variants (Platina, Ace, Pro, Classic, Edge, Nova), without the separate guardian account and investment options (Recurring Deposit or SIP).

Features & Benefits

• Kotak Junior Account offers Personalised Junior Debit Card and exciting rewards programme, which provides several benefits like book vouchers, movie tickets and discount vouchers
• Debit cards will only be issued to children above 10 years of age only on the request of the guardian
• This debit card will come with a withdrawal limit of Rs. 5,000. Kotak Bank provides attractive interest rates up to 6% on Junior and Guardian’s Saving Account Balance
• The Junior Account also comes with exclusive discounts and privileges for kids like Junior Foodie, Junior Day Out, Junior Shopper, Junior Learner and Junior Angel

SBI PehliUdaan

In this SBI PehliUdaan saving account, the eligibility criteria are as follows:

The age of the kid should be above 10 and below 18 years. PehliUdaan savings account is a singly operating account, unlike PehlaKadam. PehlaKadam Account is opened in the sole name of the minor.

Features & Benefits

The Monthly Average Balance Requirement for SBI PehliUdaan Account depends on the location of the branch.

• Features such as personalised cheque book and Mobile Banking are available for PehliUdaan Savings Account
• It also comes with Child’s photo embossed ATM-cum-Debit Card with withdrawal/POS limit of Rs. 5,000. The card will be issued in the name of the minor

Conclusion

So, introduce your child to savings by opening a Savings Account for him/her. Opening a savings account is just the foundation of savings and investments for your child. Your child will be motivated and encouraged to save and will also understand the value of money and banking services.